File drawer cover and sheet retainer



Jan. 28, 1958 E. H. MAY

,FILE DRAWER COVER AND SHEET RETAINER Filed 001;. 22, 1953 lnz enfar Patented Jan. 28, 1958 FILE DRAWER COVER AND SHEET RETAINER Ellwood H. May, Sheboygan, Wis. Application October 22,- 1953, Serial No. 387,696

8 Claims. (Cl. 312-483) This invention relates to containers which are customarily in the form of drawers inserted into a cabinet and designed to hold large sheets of material, and more particularly pertains to improvements in dust covers therefor.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved dust cover for drawers adapted to contain large sheets of material such as drawings, blue prints and the like which will protect the sheets from light and dust and permit ready access to the sheets.

Another object of this invention is to provide a flexible dust cover and mounting therefor on a container for large sheets of material, which mounting draws the dust cover taut when in its covering position over the sheets to thereby prevent the sheets from curling.

' Another object of this invention is to provide a flexible dust cover and mounting therefor on a container which automatically accommodates different sized stacks of sheets so that the cover lies smoothly on the top of the stack when in its covering position to thereby efiiciently exclude light and dust, and prevents the sheets from curling.

A further object of this invention is to provide a mounting for a flexible dust cover on a container for large sheets of material which is adapted to support the cover in an elevated position to provide easy access to the sheet material.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a dust cover for a container of large sheets of material having a frame attached to the forward end of the flexible dust cover and pivoted intermediate the ends of the container to tension the dust cover over the sheets of material when the frame is lowered and to support the dust cover in an elevated position when the frame is raised.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide improved means for pivotally mounting the dust cover support frame on the tray in a more economical and facile manner and which is so constructed and arranged as to prevent damage to the sheets in the container.

These, together with various ancillary objects of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a cabinet having drawers therein, one of which is shown in its extended position and having the dust cover of the present invention applied thereto and shown in its raised position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the drawer showing the dust cover in its lowered position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the plane 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. i is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the dust cover lift member;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the mounting for the dust cover support frame.

The dust cover of the present invention is particularly adapted for use in conjunction with containers for large sheets of material such as drawings, blue prints and tracings, and which containers are normally of a shallow open top construction. The containers in the present invention are conveniently in the form of drawers 10 which are slidably and guidably mounted as by suitable rollers (not shown) in a cabinet 11, a plurality of such drawers being provided in the cabinet.

The drawers 10 are preferably formed of sheet steel and include a front wall 12, a rear wall 13 and side walls 14, a bottom wall 15 being secured to the front, rear and side walls. As is best shown in Fig. 2, the upper edge of the side walls is outwardly rolled at 16 to provide a track for engagement with the rollers carried by the cabinet 11, suitable detents 17 being provided to limit outward extension of the drawer. Stops 18 are provided adjacent the rear edges of the side members to limit inward movement of the drawers.

The dust cover 19 is attached adjacent the rear portion of the drawer and extends to the front thereof, a cover support frame 21 being attached to the front portion of the dust cover to draw the latter taut over the sheets in the drawer, when the frame is in its lowered position, and to support the dust cover in an elevated position when-the frame is raised. The frame 21 comprises a lift member 22 formed of a flat strip of sheet metal and bent upwardly at the forward end to provide a flange 23 and then bent upon itself as at 24 to provide a reinforced grip portion, the upper edge of which is inclined inwardly as at 25 to facilitate gripping of the member anywhere along its length. The rear portion of the lift member 22 is bent as at 26 to form an integral extension 27 which extends upwardly and forwardly, the forward end of the extension being curved downwardly as at 28 and terminating in a depending lip 29 which extends downwardly and rearwardly into closely spaced adjacency with the upper surface of the lift member. The forward end of the cover member 19 is folded upon itself and stitched to form a hem 31 which is adapted to extend between the lower edge of the lip 29 and the upper face of the lift member 22, a rod 32 being inserted in the hem to prevent withdrawal thereof. As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the flexible cover member 19 overlies the outer surface of the lip 29 and the upper surface of the extension 27 and extends rearwardly therefrom.

A pair of links 33 formed of flat strips of steel are bent at one end to form a flange 34 and secured to opposite ends of the flange on the lift member 22, as by welding. The links 33 extend rearwardly from the lift member alongside the side walls 14 and are each proided with a headed pivot pin 35 adjacent the rear ends thereof, which pins are receivable in the slots 36 formed in the sockets 37.

In accordance with the present invention, the sockets are extruded inwardly from the side walls 14 to provide a substantially flat bearing plate 38 which extends in parallel spaced relation to the side wall 14 and which has the vertical slot 36 provided therein. The socket has an open top and front to permit free vertical pivotal movement of the links 33, the rear and bottom of the bearing plate being joined to the side walls by an integral flange 39. As best seen in Fig. 5, the flange is preferably arcuate to extend smoothly around the rear and bottom walls of the bearing plate and prevent engagement of the pivoted end of the link 33 with the sheet material contained within the drawer 10. The upper end of the flange 39 terminates in a transverse shoulder 41 which is adapted to engage the upper edge of the link 33 at a point spaced from the pivot axis thereof to limit pivotal movement thereof beyond a predetermined rearwardly inclined position. This supports the dust cover support frame in its raised position to thereby retain the dust cover elevated above sheet material disposed in the drawer.

As is apparent from Figs. 2 and 5, the slot 36 which receives the pivot pin permits ready assembly and disassembly of the support frame 21 from the drawer 10. In order to prevent accidental detachment of the support frame, when the latter is in its lowered position, the links 33 are provided with extensions 4-2 which project beyond the pivot pins 35, and the flange 39 on the bearing plate 38 is so formed that the upper edge thereof is spaced from the upper edge of the slot 36 a distance less than the length of the extension 42. This prevents withdrawal of the link pivot pin 35 from the Slots 36 when the links are in their lowered position, and consequently prevents accidental detachment of the link pivot pins when the links are thus disposed. However, detachment of the support. frame 21, for purposes of repair or replacement of the dust cover 19, is readily accomplished by raising the support frame to its elevated position so that the extensions 42 will clear the flange 39 and then withdrawing the pivoted ends of the links from the slots. It is to be noted that the weight of the support frame, when the latter is in its elevated position, retains the pivoted ends of the links in the slots 36 so that accidental detachment thereof in this position of the support frame is prevented.

In order to uniformly tension the dust cover 19 when the lift frame is moved to its lowered position independent of the number of sheets of material disposed in the drawer, the rear portion of the dust cover is mounted on the drawer for vertical movement to be elevated and lowered selectively in accordance with the thickness of the stack of sheets in the drawer. For this purpose, there is provided a vertical flanged member 44 which is secured to each of the side walls 14 as by welding in spaced parallel relation to the rear wall to provide a vertical guideway therebetween adjacent the rear ends of each of the side walls. The rear portion of the dust cover is folded upon itself and stitched to form a hem 45 and a stiffening element 46 such as a rod is inserted through the hem and extends on opposite sides of the dust cover to be slidably and guidably received in the guideways formed between the flanged members 44 and the rear wall 13. As shown in Fig. 3, the upper edge of the flanged member 44 is inclined rearwardly as at 47 to prevent accidental withdrawal of the stiffening element 46.

It will be apparent that when the dust cover support frame is raised as shown in Fig. 1, the front portion of the dust cover is elevated to provide ready access to the sheets of drawings disposed in the drawer 10. When in its raised position, the support frame abuts the transverse shoulder 41 on the flange 39 and is retained thereby in an upwardly and rearwardly inclined position. As the support frame is lowered, it draws the cover member 19 taut over the top of the stack of sheets in the drawer, the stiffening element 46 at the rear portion of the cover member rising upwardly in the guideways in accordance with the level of the stack of sheets in the drawer. Thus, the dust cover is drawn smoothly over the top of the stack of sheets and thereby prevents light and dust from damaging the sheet material and also tends to compress the stack to prevent curling of the edges of the sheets. The lift member'22 at the front of the drawer weights the forward edges of the sheets and serves to further inhibit curling of the stack of sheets.

When removing or replacing the dust cover 19, the support frame 21 is elevated and the pivoted ends thereof withdrawn from the slots 36 so that the entire dust cover and support frame are removable from the drawer. Thereafter, the rod 32 may be withdrawn from the hem 31 at the forward edge of the dust cover and the dust cover detached from the clamp assembly on the lift member 22. This is facilitated by the novel dust cover clamp construction wherein the depending lip 29 and the. integral extension 27 yieldably clamp the cover member to the lift member 22 to permit ready removal and insertion of the hemmed edge of the dust cover when the rod 22 is removed from the hem.

I claim:

1. In a normally open top container for large sheets, said container having front, rear and side walls, a flexible cover member attached adjacent the rear portion of said container and extending to the front thereof, a lift member attached along the front of said cover member, flat links attached to the ends of said lift member and extending rearwardly therefrom alongside said side walls, a socket extruded from each of said side Walls intermediate the ends thereof, said sockets having flat faces spaced inwardly from said side walls, the ends of said links remote from said lift member extending between said flat faces and the side walls, and means for pivotally mounting said last-mentioned ends of said links on said flat faces of said sockets.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sockets are open at the top and front thereof, a flange integral with said flat face extending along the bottom and rear of said fiat face to prevent engagement of the pivoted ends of said arms with the sheets disposed in said container.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the upper edges of the flanges on the rear of said flat faces are constructed and arranged to engage the arm pivotally attached thereto and limit pivotal movement thereof in a predetermined rearwardly inclined position to thereby support the cover member in an elevated position.

4. A normally open top container for large sheets, said container having front, rear and side walls, a flexible cover member attached adjacent the rear portion of said container and extending to the front thereof, a lift member attached along the front of said cover member, fiat links attached to the ends of said lift member and extending rearwardly therefrom alongside said side walls, a socket extruded from each of said side walls intermediate the ends thereof, said sockets having flat faces spaced in* wardly from said side walls and an integral flange extending along the bottom and rear portions thereof, said sockets having a vertical slot formed therein, the ends of said links remote from said lift member extending into said sockets between the fiat faces and the side walls, and

a pivot pin on the last-mentioned ends of said links extending into said slots, said links having extensions projecting beyond said pivot pins, said flange being constructed and arranged at the upper end thereof to terminate in a shoulder which is spaced from said slot a distance less than the length of said arm extensions to prevent withdrawal of the arm pivot pins from the slots when the arms are in their lowered position in the container.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the shoulder on said flange is engageable with said arm when the latter is in a rearwardly inclined position to support the latter in that position.

6. In a cabinet, a normally horizontal open top drawer for large sheets slidable into and out of said cabinet, said drawer having a bottom, rear, front and opposed side walls, a flexible cover member attached adjacent said rear wall and extending to the front of said drawer, a lift member adapted to weight the forward edges of the sheets in the drawer comprising a flat strip having an upturned flange at the forward edge thereof and providing a hand grip portion for raising the member, a cover member clamp comprising an integral resilient extension on said strip extending upwardly and forwardly from the rear edge thereof, 2. depending lip on the upper edge of said extension extending downwardly and rearwardly and terminating in closely spaced adjacency to said strip, the front portion of said cover member overlying said extension and said depending, flange and having a hem formed in the forward end thereof adapted to extend between the lower edge of said lip and said strip, a rod in said hem to prevent withdrawal. of said hem from said clamp,' and a pair of flat elongated links pivotally attached at the rear ends thereof to said side walls and having inturned flanges at the forward ends thereof secured to said upturned flange on the lift member whereby said links support the lift member and cover member when the lift member is raised and urge said lift member forwardly to draw the cover member over the sheets in the drawer as the lift member is lowered.

7. In a file cabinet, an open top drawer for relatively large sheets mounted for horizontal sliding movement into and out of the cabinet, said drawer including a bottom wall, opposed side walls and front and rear walls, a flexible cover member dimensioned to extend across said drawer from the front wall to the rear wall thereof, a stiffening member attached to the rear edge of said cover member and extending across the rear edge thereof, vertically disposed guideways on said drawer adjacent said rear wall for supporting said reinforcing member for vertical sliding movement, a support frame including a cover lift member attached to the front edge of said cover member and extending thereacross, links attached to opposite ends of said lift member and extending rearwardly thereof in said drawer, means attaching the ends of links remote from said lift member for vertical pivotal movement on said drawer at a point spaced from the front wall thereof substantially equal to the distance between the pivot point of said links and the forward edge of said lift member whereby said links are effective to draw said cover member taut as the lift member is lowered into the drawer, said stiffening member moving upwardly in said guideways in accordance with the level of the sheets in the drawer as the cover member is drawn taut.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said links are pivotally connected to said drawer at a point spaced relatively closer to the rear wall than to the front wall thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 562,422 Richter June 23, 1896 1,924,109 De Lisle Aug. 29, 1933 2,189,567 Miller Feb. 6, 1940 2,365,186 Geimer Dec. 19, 1944 2,632,507 Ewing Mar. 24, 1953 

